SEAL on washing bin Laden's bloody face

The Navy SEAL who helped kill Osama bin Laden and was tasked with photographing his body tells Scott Pelley how he washed the blood from the dead al Qaeda leader's face to get the best photos he could. The former SEAL Team 6 member, who uses the pseudonym Mark Owen, will appear in his first interview on 60 Minutes Sunday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Excerpts from the interview will appear tonight on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley at 6:30 p.m.

CBS News will not identify "Owen" for security reasons. A makeup artist was employed to disguise his appearance and sound manipulation was used to mask his real voice for his 60 Minutes interview. His book, "No Easy Day," went on sale this week. Below is an excerpt:

Mark Owen: I figured these were the-- probably some of the most important photos I'd ever take in my life. So you know, make sure I do it right, get good angles, and all this other stuff. But, you know, you got to clean off the face, so...[its] identifiable as possible. So one of my buddies had a CamelBak with some water in it. Got some, you know-- spread some water on him, took a sheet off the bed, kind of wiped the blood off and then took photos.

Scott Pelley: Wiping the blood off of Osama bin Laden's face? And you shot pictures of his face in a profile. Can you describe what they look like?

Owen: They're pretty gruesome.

[cowards3130]

This interview sickens me. Is there no boundary and no discussion to sacred for news??? If you can not show your face, you should not give the interview. It is not the foreign enemy but most likely your fellow SEALS who would attack you for giving up all honor to sell the book and tell the story. This story does not deserve to be on the news or in print. He should be prosecuted for revealing the tactics that occur in battle. HATE THIS STORY...

[Autumntrails]

So agree... life is not 'Hollywood' and there is such a thing as 'national security'. It breaks my heart to see 'our people' selling out for fame and fortune, as if, honor had a dollar value. I don't understand this man's mentality, why he would expose his brothers in arms. Is greed the new American dream, well then let Romney and his kind destroy what was once the greatest country on earth.

[frog93149]

This is treason! I don't care what party you belong too, I don't care if you did it for money,you should go to jail. I don't believe him. He is loser who is putting his team in danger. How did they choose this loser to be a Navy Seal?

[derekmanman]

tonight on 60 minutes the navy seal who killed bin laden last year (whos been dead since 2001) with no proof...that man who was swarn to secrecy to say he did it...cool ill be the one ....at least nasa made the moon thing (spread out arms) about that believable

[Jenniel65]

Who cares if he swore to secrecy? Politicians have sworn to uphold the constitution and they do the exact opposite every single day? That it's a matter of security? The government has much more against our national security than this book will ever do.

[Marine-UP]

I am not SEAL, I am a Marine. I read his book over the weekend, if what he wrote in his book it true, he earned the right to tell his story. Semper Fi Shipmate! (Panama 89).

If you have a problem, go tell him, good luck to you!

Molon Lobe!

[Conrad_Powell]

As an attorney myself, it is clear that the battle lines are drawn. The requisite provisions of the law in relation to Mark Owen's claim for First Amendment Expression runs counter to the Government's need for secrecy under the rubric of protecting lives. It is well settled, according to the US Supreme Court, that the government may regulate Free Speech according to time, place and manner restrictions that are justified vis a vis health and safety considerations. The DOD could make the argument that they are within their right to curtail Mark Owen's freedom of expression because it would endanger the lives of other officers. Interesting, I too wrote a book entitled NO EASY DAY: A Fictional Account of the Mission that "Killed" Osama Bin Laden" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00505B5EU ) However, mine is total fiction. My book was published May 09, 2011.
Conrad Powell, Esq. - Attorney-at-Law, http://conradpowell.blogspot.com

[AOCGUY]

When this man was adjudicated and indoctrinated with his security clearance he signed an SF-312 Non Disclosure Agreement that agreeing that he would never divulge classified information. WHen he received his TOP SECRET clearance he signed additional non-disclosure agreements as well as performing an oral attestation again agreeing thant classified information will ever be divulged When he left the Navy he also was debriefed and again signed off on his NDA. The man is scum and need to be tried for violation of his agreement with the DoD and placing the lives of other service members and future missions at risk.

[tmittelstaed]

The Pentagon is mainly POd that he didn't give them an advance copy of his book. The key here is whether he did reveal state secrets that have not already been revealed by the Pentagon and the White House. I hardly think that describing how he took pictures of Bin Laden's dead face are compromising state secrets. We already know that those pictures existed since the White House stated that they did exist and they wouldn't be released to the general public.

The fact of the matter is that there is nothing that would endanger the lives of other officers by releasing photos of dead Bin Laden. To do so would embarass Al Queda and just make them even madder, but who cares after what they did to us.

This is advertisng for a book. As a published author myself I understand what they are trying to do here. I doubt that there is anything in the book that is very interesting or that reveals anything of value of how the CIA operates. The publisher knows that and so they know that a viral marketing campaign, where they release the book and allow word of mouth to sell it, will fail. that is why they are going all out with the expensive teaser commercial marketing campaign because they want all the possible book customers to get frothed up so the day the book is sold they all go running out and buy a copy, then go home, read it, and say "this is dumb what was all the fuss about"

I would bet that 2 weeks after the book release all of the critics have panned it and the publisher will be lucky to recoup their advance fee.

[kevcl6750]

Are you sure Owens' claim does not run counter to Obamas' re election ?

[kevcl6750]

Are you sure Owens' claim does not run counter to Obamas' re election ?

[chwick]

oops make up artist just made a ringer of someone else's face.....poor guy.

[r3293]

I think this is a despicable self-serving human being. What happened to the honor a secrecy of the Seals? What is his purpose? What is the purpose of CBS in giving him a platform?

[gemini9gem]

Further to my earlier reply to a comment, Let's not forget George Bush on aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, "Mission accomplished" speech in 2003. Wikipedia.

[JWinATL]

And from Wikipedia: "The banner stating "Mission Accomplished" was a focal point of controversy and criticism. Navy Commander and Pentagon spokesman Conrad Chun said the banner referred specifically to the aircraft carrier's 10-month deployment (which was the longest deployment of a carrier since the Vietnam War) and not the war itself, saying "It truly did signify a mission accomplished for the crew."[7]

The White House claimed that the banner was requested by the crew of the ship, who did not have the facilities for producing such a banner. Afterward, the administration and naval sources stated that the banner was the Navy's idea, White House staff members made the banner, and it was hung by the U.S. Navy personnel. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told CNN, "We took care of the production of it. We have people to do those things. But the Navy actually put it up."[8] According to John Dickerson of Time magazine, the White House later conceded that they actually hung the banner but still insists it had been done at the request of the crew members."

Another media exaggeration. I have maintained from that day that the slogan was about the crew of the aircraft carrier, but liberals won't believe that because it doesn't fit their paradigm of what Bush was about.
"

[signseeker1717]

Many of us are aware of the circumstances. But it was a poorly-orchestrated photo op that gave the wrong impression then, and persists to this day for good reasons:

His people never corrected the misinterpretation.

His actions and attitudes conveyed a similar message that was NOT misinterpreted.

Face it - Bush screwed up royally by going into Iraq, especially so close behind Afghanistan, and that's the legacy he has left behind, in addition to a wrecked economy, trillions in war debt, thousands of lives lost, and he had almost nothing of any consequence to the American people to show for it.

[ksmit2]

It is unfortunate that the Pentagon chose to over react to this book
the way it did. No one who is a Seal, including "Mr.Owen" would knowingly
write or publish anything that would compromise intelligence or future
operations. These people are a highly motivated individuals that drive
themselves to endure back breaking physical and mental torture and
deprivation for several weeks in training so that that they again risk
their life and limb to perform any mission requested of them, without
question or complaint. Give the guy a break. He was there, he has a
story to tell. Sorry if it wasn't on your terms. Please don't discredit these folks who have made this kind of sacrifice, by suggesting that this author is too "dumb" to know that he is "compromising" intelligence or anything else.

[logicghost]

"He was there, he has a story to tell." Really? Was he there? I wasn't so I couldn't tell you. How do we know any of that really took place the way they want you to believe it did. Try thinking for yourselves instead of blindly believing whatever someone else wants you to. This is what has become of our nation.